CPD23 Thing 11

T-t-teach, teach me

Mentoring is so important in libraries. Library school only teaches you so much. And you don't need to go to library school to work in a library. Either way, you learn a great deal on the job. So it is important to have people you can trust to help guide you. People you can seek out for advice.

I have never set up a formal mentoring relationship, although I have seriously considered asking an informal mentor to be a formal one. It has been easier at a large library to find a mentor -- when I worked at the historical society I was the only librarian/archivist, I had to constantly explain what I was doing to others. But at OPL, my first supervisor stepped in and filled a mentor role. She is the one who got me involved with the Technical Services Roundtable of NLA -- she encouraged me to take on the job of editing the TSRT newsletter which was way out of my comfort zone.

She also encouraged me to apply to and wrote a recommendation for me to attend the Nebraska Library Leadership Institute. When she retired and I inherited her job duties I followed many of her practices and procedures -- it provided a great foundation as I learned so many new things and was a new manager. She taught me how to nurture the staff you supervise -- encourage them to try new things and stretch beyond their usual roles.

Since that time I have turned to other experienced managers within our library system for advice. I talk with these people about our shared experiences on a variety of matters. Sometimes I am listening to them, sometimes they are listening to me. Sometime we commiserate and sometimes we celebrate. It helps a great deal to have others to talk to when needed.

The Nebraska Library Leadership Institute also provided mentors. Each group had 2 mentors and 6 mentees. The mentors had to be silent through most of the program, but they were always available. Since the program they are people we could have gone to as a formal mentor, although I never did that.

In the last few years I have been surprised to find that others have put me in the role of mentor. I have been able to provide advice from interviewing (having been both an interviewer and interviewee many times) to how to handle a given situation. I have been contacted by those interested in library school or those at library school who are interested cataloging or perhaps other things. This has included someone from another state wondering how to move from an academic setting to public library cataloging.

I have been surprised because I don't feel that I know enough. I know I don't have all the answers. And that is true of all mentors but the idea that others view me as someone who does have some of the answer is still surprising. I am wondering when I moved from someone with lots of questions and seeking lots of answers to someone with some of the answers.